Family sees community spirit in action

Marie Fogell didn't plan to spend Sunday in Dumas during a road trip from Chicago to New Mexico.

And she didn't plan to collide with a cow, totaling her daughter's van.

But Panhandle folks pitched in to assist Fogell and her family after a Saturday evening wreck destroyed their vehicle and stranded them in Dumas.

Fogell, her two daughters and her four grandchildren were on their way to Rio Rancho, N.M., when their 1996 Dodge Caravan struck a black cow Saturday evening around 7 p.m.

The collision took place near Stratford. The Sherman County Sheriff's Office declined to reveal the exact location of the wreck.

"A cow darted out in front of us," Fogell said.

Fogell's daughter, Gail Herring, was driving the van. She hit the brakes and tried to steer around the cow, said Shirley Adams, Herring's sister and the owner of the van.

"They didn't think people were like that anymore."

Cathy Rancier

But the cow struck the van twice and shattered all the glass on the driver's side, Adams said. Adams' four young children in the back - all wearing seat belts - weren't injured, but some had glass in their hair.

Stratford EMS transported the family to the Moore County Hospital in Dumas, where medical officials determined no one had been seriously injured.

At the hospital, workers pitched in to take care of the four young children while the adults were checked out, said Cathy Rancier, respiratory therapist.

Rancier asked the youngsters if they were hungry, and they said yes - so one of the EMTs bought McDonald's food for them.

"He brought them all back a Happy Meal," Rancier said. "They wanted the surprise."

When personnel finished examining the three adults, the women faced a clothing dilemma - emergency workers had to cut away their clothes during treatment.

"They didn't have anything to wear," Rancier said.

So Rancier went out to her car, got the clothes she'd just picked up from the dry cleaners, and gave them to the women.

But the family faced another problem.

"When they were releasing us, we didn't have anywhere to go," Shirley Adams said. So another nurse's husband drove all seven to the Econo Lodge - where they got a good deal on a room large enough for all of them, Adams said.

On Sunday morning, Rancier's husband, James, brought the family back to Stratford to the demolished van so they could remove their belongings. Sunday night, the family was waiting for a relative to pick them up.

Adams isn't sure how she, her children, her sister and her mother will get back to Chicago.

"The van is gone. There is no way that we can get that van back," Adams said. "We have no idea right now. It's really hard."

But Adams is thankful for her family's safety and the community's help.

"Everybody was so wonderful," she said.

That's nothing new for the Panhandle, Rancier said.

"They didn't think people were like that anymore," Rancier said. "And I said, 'Yeah, they are.' "